English philology faculty

3. Author's contribution to English literature.
His two novels are The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent (1760-1767), which won him immediate recognition, and A Senti mental Journey through France and Italy (1768). Unique in English literature, they are the accurate reflection of the singular personality of their author. They are made up of Sterne's peculiar blend of pathos and humour, and, though the pathos is sometimes overdone to the point of becoming offensively sentimental, the humour is subtle and intellectual, and constantly surprises by the unusual forms in which it is found. Indeed, for many, Sterne is merely the eccentric who appealed to his own age by such unusual devices as a completely black page in the middle of his story: But his characters ard his chier claim to greatness, Basically, they are humorous, in the Jonsonian sense of the word, but they are built up with a subtle analysis of feeling that makes them life like and completely human. Perhaps the most famous of them are "my uncle Toby" and his Corporal Trim, but all Sterne's characters are minutely delineated, with a striking appreciation of the value of gesture and expression guides to personality. There is little story in these works, but they are written in a delicate, digressive style admirably suited to their subject matter.Sterne's childhood was spent following his father's army regiment around England and Ireland. This early experience of military life was to inspire some of his most memorable comic characters, including the war-game obsessed Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim. The satirical andstylistic influence of Rabelais and Cervantes can be felt throughout Tristram Shandy, whilst the philosophy of John Locke informs one of the book's key themes: the association of ideas.British director Michael Winterbottom took up the challenge of bringing Tristram Shandy to the big screen. His Cock and Bull Story starred Steve Coogan in the multiple roles of Tristram and Walter Shandy and as himself. Winterbottom stays true to the anarchic spirit of the novel by making a film about the very impossibility of making a film of a supposedly un-filmable book. Illustrator Martin Rowson has also released a well-reviewed graphic novel version of the book (Overlook Press, 1997), adding further meta-textual complexity by inserting himself into the narrative, as well as rewriting various passages in the style of other famous authors.No, that's not quite true. English literature majors have to read his alleged masterpiece, Tristram Shandy (1759–67). Hundreds of PhD dissertations analyze this work. And someone must have read that novel to write the screenplay for the movie based on it. Maybe even a few people who saw the film were led to start reading the novel, though how many got past the first ten pages, I can't imagine.
And there are all those modern literary figures, like James Joyce and Flann O'Brien, who are said to have been influenced by this centuries-previous writer.But have you ever met a non-academic, non-literary-genius who has read any work of Sterne's from start to finish? Not likely.Which is too bad really. Sterne seems to have had a lot of fun with his writing and, once the reader gets past the surface difficulties, his work can be bawdy, incredibly witty, devastatingly insightful, and—most of all—uproariously funny.

Those difficulties though. Bizarre and obscure philosophical, political and historical references (many of them bogus). Sentences that keep interrupting themselves. A plot that inches ahead, when it is not falling backwards. A modern reader (and probably many a reader in Sterne's day) could lose the way very quickly.Sterne came to his calling as a writer relatively late in life. Born in Ireland into a British soldier's family, he was a clergyman in northern England for many years and even tried his hand at farming, despite suffering from tuberculosis.In 1759, Sterne wrote a short novel, A Political Romance, a satire on ecclesiastical politics intended to support his dean in a church struggle. It was immediately suppressed, although it was later republished after Sterne's death as The History of a Good Warm Watch-Coat.But his writing appetite had been whetted and he started on Tristram Shandy. The first couple of parts (or "books", as they were called) were published also in 1759 and won him quick fame. He continued to add new volumes to the work for the next eight years.To ease his TB, Sterne left England for a trip through Europe, where he was also celebrated. This resulted in Sentimental Journey (1768), an unfinished novel that satirizes travel writing. The tour is related in diary format by Yorick, a kind-hearted but bumbling Don Quixote-style character previously referenced in Tristram Shandy. Sterne died in London shortly after the first of the intended volumes of A Sentimental Journey was published.When the first two books of Tristram Shandy were published in 1759, most readers were delighted. Some of them ceased to laugh, however, when they discovered that the writer was a parson of the church. At any rate, Sterne became a celebrity overnight, and many famous people received him and applauded him; they called him "Tristram" or "Parson Yorick," identifying him completely with his book. Samuel Johnson thought him smutty and too peculiar in his writing, but when Oliver Goldsmith suggested that Sterne was dull, Johnson replied, "Why, no, Sir." Sterne reveled in his popularity and prosperity, and he commuted between York and London, reaping the fruits of fame. The years between 1759 and 1768 were intensely busy ones for him. He wrote his five installments of Tristram, several volumes of Sermons of Mr. Yorick, and at the end of the period, A Sentimental Journey. He struggled very hard to enjoy his life, having adequate proofs that it was not to last for very long; he hoped to find in relationships with women some recompense for the emptiness of his marriage. No doubt he did, since whatever was ideal in those relationships came in large part from his imagination.Looking for a climate that would deal more gently with his damaged lungs, he spent a good deal of time between 1762 and 1765 in France. His wife and daughter were happy there, and he finally settled them there permanently. His time in France furnished him with the material for Book 7 of Tristram, as well as for the charming and successful Sentimental Journey.This latter volume, a slim one, has won the hearts of readers and critics consistently during its years of existence (February 1768). The delicacy of the book pleases everyone, but there is still a lot of Sternean muscle rippling robustly under the skin. The complexity of life throbs beneath the surface of Tristram Shandy; A Sentimental Journey gives us Sterne's warm and gentle farewell to a life that gave him much satisfaction and delight. He died less than a month after it was published, at the pinnacle of his fame.Sterne began his writing career by composing political tracts in support of Robert Walpole and other political figures endorsed by his Uncle Jaques, a prominent clergyman who possessed great influence over church politics, and thus over Sterne’s career. Sterne later wrote A Political Romance (1759), in which he supported his friend Dean Fountayne in that clergyman’s quarrel against Francis Topham; Topham held a judicial position within the church and made plans to ensure that his young son would inherit the position, a plan that unquestionably violated church policy. To Sterne’s surprise, Fountayne became angered by Sterne’s tract, an allegory of the episode that supported him. Fountayne felt that Sterne’s biting satire reflected badly upon him as a clergyman. Most copies of the allegory were burned. Sterne then turned his attention to Tristram Shandy, which he had already started. The first two volumes were published in December 1759. In January 1761, Sterne published volumes three and four, with five and six coming in December 1761. Volumes seven and eight appeared in January 1765, with volume nine coming into print in January 1767, only fourteen months before his death. The publication history is notable for several reasons; for instance, Sterne’s novel, like other books of the era, was published in serial form, unlike literature today. Some people today who peruse a copy of Tristram Shandy assume that the book was published initially in its entirety. But from 1759 to 1767, Sterne’s book was essentially a work in progress, a work that could perhaps have evolved according to public opinion, such as the comments and feedback that Sterne received as the celebrated author (Sterne became famous almost immediately after the first two volumes appeared). One can easily discern that Sterne markedly slowed the pace in which he penned the succeeding volumes of Tristram Shandy, attributable to Sterne’s poor health, for he battled tuberculosis throughout his adult life.Sterne’s novel tells the stories of the narrator, Tristram Shandy, his father (Walter), and his sentimental Uncle Toby, a soldier who would not hurt a fly--literally. The book focuses on obsessions (hobby-horses), such as Walter’s philosophy and Uncle Toby’s preoccupation with fortifications. Sexuality also plays a prominent role in the novel. When the Widow Wadman falls for the soldier and desires to learn if Uncle Toby can function sexually (she fears that he has been rendered impotent because of a battle wound), she asks him about his wound; he declares that he will let her touch the very spot where he was wounded. She becomes afraid because she knows that modesty would forbid her to see and touch his genitals, but he returns, to her surprise, with a map to show her geographically where he was wounded. The year before his death, Sterne wrote A Sentimental Journey and Journal to Eliza. The former work is an outstanding travel book concerning the adventures of Parson Yorick, a character from Tristram Shandy who most probably represents the author’s alter ego. This travel narrative is episodic and lacks a cohesive structure; York simply encounters various people, flirts with some, and considers events from a sentimental perspective--a perspective of which he is probably self-conscious. Journal to Eliza, another sentimental work, is based on the emotional, although not necessarily physical, relationship that Sterne enjoyed with a young married woman named Eliza Draper, who subsequently reunited with her husband in India. The journal tells of the narrator’s longing for Eliza and the desire to see her again--a wish that never came true. Apparently, Sterne wrote the journal to her and not to a public audience. Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy is unquestionably one of the finest literary achievements of the eighteenth century. The ingenious structure of the book and the adroit manner in which Sterne (or is it Tristram Shandy?) interweaves digressions and delightfully describes the unique and peculiar characters help to make this novel a masterpiece. The novel, along with A Sentimental Journey and Journal to Eliza, manifest Sterne’s skill as a sentimental writer, a talent that influenced later authors such as Oliver Goldsmith and Henry Mackenzie.